


Setbacks

by ashtraythief



Series: Hungry [3]
Category: Supernatural RPF
Genre: Age Difference, M/M, mentions of Jeff/OMCs, mentions of Jensen/OMC - Freeform, relationship fighting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-18
Updated: 2018-08-18
Packaged: 2019-06-29 02:02:03
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,321
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15719640
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ashtraythief/pseuds/ashtraythief
Summary: Jeff thinks they’re building a relationship. Jensen is not on the same page.





	Setbacks

**Author's Note:**

> More in the Jeff/Jensen backstory! This one isn't as pleasant but they had a rocky road. Onw more timestamp ahead, and that one's gonna be the one with a happy ending :)
> 
> Many, many thanks to ilikaicalie for her patient beta work!

 

 

“You realize you’re acting like a child, right?” Jeff bites out. “It’s a party, not an engagement announcement.”

Jensen’s eyebrows shoot up into sharp arches and he gets that hard pull in the corners of his mouth that tells Jeff just how much he just screwed up but, god, Jensen and his fucking recalcitrance make him fucking furious.

“I keep telling you, I’m too young for you, but do you listen?”

“Bullshit,” Jeff says. It’s too late to take it back, he might as well go all in. “You’re twenty-three. You’re an adult.”

Jensen crosses his arms across his chest. “Yeah, and that means I can make my own decisions. And if I decide that I don’t want to go with you to your company Christmas party, then that means I don’t have to go.”

“In a relationship you have to compromise. Would it be so hard for you to just once do this for me?”

Jensen’s mouth opens in shock. “Are you fucking kidding me? I told you, I don’t want to date.”

“Oh right, you want a _fuck buddy thing_.”

“Hey, no need to take that tone. Last night when I rode you on the couch you seemed pretty happy with the arrangement.”

Jeff snorts and drags a hand through his hair. “Jensen, I don’t care what label you put on us, but this, what we’re doing here, it’s a relationship. I hate to ruin your independent bubble but it is. We see each other every week. We text. We make dinner together. We walk my dog together. We fuck, yeah, but we also talk about a whole lot of personal stuff.”

“Yeah, but without strings.” Jensen throws his hands up in exasperation. “You’re not listening. That’s the problem, you know. You have this idea of us in your head, what you want us to be but that’s not me. A relationship with you comes with responsibilities, strings. Company Christmas parties. Dinners. Meeting people. Dressing in fancy clothes. Going to restaurants which employ sommeliers. Being… an actual adult. I don’t—I don’t want that, okay?”

“You don’t know what you want.”

Jensen’s face hardens. “Maybe. But that doesn’t mean you get to decide for me.”

Jensen slams the door on his way out and for a while Jeff is too furious to miss him. But in the end, he’s only angry with himself. Jeff’s a better negotiator than this, he needs to stop losing his head where Jensen is concerned.

  


Jeff refuses to stay away from Joe’s just because he and Jensen fought again.

The first time he sees him, Jensen shoots him a brief hard look from the other side of the room and then ignores him. Fine. Jeff just picks up someone else.

There are a few weeks where Jensen doesn’t come to Joe’s and a few where Jeff is busy with work. When he finally sees Jensen at Joe’s again, there’s a guy with him, drink in hand, talking into Jensen’s ear.

Law school, Joe says with a can-you-believe-it, that's-never-going-to-last-more-than-a-few-months eye roll, but it cuts deep. Jensen is dating again. And this time, he’s not going for nice. He’s going for cut-throat, driven, knows what he wants in life. Granted, still the working-towards-it-in-college guy but it’s close enough to Jeff’s line of work that he knows this guy is more what Jensen wants than his teacher ex ever was.

Joe disapprovingly cleans glasses and tells Jeff that he thinks the guy is too boring, too clean-cut, and Jeff runs his thumb along his rings thoughtfully. Maybe. Nothing he can do about it anyway.

He still shoots Jensen a smirk when he looks over and then makes a point of taking the hand of the guy he’s currently flirting with and raising it up to a cheesy, over-the-top old fashioned kiss. It usually works, it certainly does this time and he catches Jensen rolling his eyes but looking away with a tense set to his shoulders.

When law school boyfriend leans in, Jensen makes a point of pressing into his side, almost pushing his ass into his boyfriend's hands. Jeff knows he needs to look away, that Jensen is just doing this because of him, to make a point because Jeff _knows_ that Jensen hates PDA with a passion but he can’t.

The guy he was picking up demands his attention and Jeff turns back to him and asks if he’s ready to leave. He really needs to stop watching Jensen.

But no matter who Jeff picks up, it’s nothing more than a brief distraction. None of them compare to Jensen. Jeff realized a long time ago that Jensen is the one he wants. He needs to get him back. But he doesn’t know how to do that as long as Jensen doesn’t grow up. And there’s the slight worry creeping in, that maybe, for Jensen it’s not about growing up. Maybe that’s just the way he is. And maybe, he’ll never change.

And despite the fact that this might make a relationship impossible, Jeff realizes it won’t stop him from wanting Jensen. Because he loves Jensen just as he is.

  


It’s a few months later when he’s in the park with Bisou. He’s been throwing a tennis ball for her for about half an hour while he talks to a colleague in Shanghai. After he hangs up, he wants to go home but Bisou is still wagging her tail for more ball throwing. Jeff sighs and keeps throwing. Usually he’d head home now and get started on dinner because he hates eating late, but today he thinks he’ll just pick up something on the way. He doesn’t get to spend enough time with Bisou as it is so why not stay out a little longer.

When he finally heads home, he stops at the falafel place Jensen kept telling him about. He occasionally got himself a bite here on the way to or from Jeff’s. For Jeff, this place always symbolized Jensen's reluctance to commit to Jeff’s lifestyle. Especially in the beginning, when Jeff offered breakfast, lunch or going out to a restaurant, Jensen’s “I already ate on the way here” or “I’ll just grab a bite on the way” were a slap in the face. Since Jensen is now dating a driven, ambitious guy, who isn’t Jeff, Jeff might as well try the falafel.

Despite the greasy interior, the falafel are really good.

Jeff decides to take the food back to his place and almost runs into Jensen, who’s standing in the door, watching him in surprise.

“What are you doing in here?” Jensen blurts out.

Jeff raises his eyebrows. “You kept going on and on about how great this place is.”

“Guess I did,” Jensen says with a half smile.

“And what brings you to this neighborhood?” Jeff asks, torn between hope and worry.

Jensen points in the general direction of Jeff’s apartment. “Going to see my boyfriend.”

Fuck. Jeff shakes his head with a huff. “So, it’s really just the age, huh?”

Jensen crosses his arms across his chest. “It’s what I kept telling you.”

Jeff smiles. Jensen looks at him in confusion but Jeff gets it. Jensen might not understand what he just said but Jeff gets it. It’s _just_ the age. And there will come a time when it won’t matter to Jensen anymore.

Jeff just needs to stop pushing his expectations on Jensen. If he lets Jensen take the lead, it might just work.

He walks past Jensen towards the exit but stops next to him. “Since it didn’t bother you in the past for this _fuck buddy thing_ , you know where to find me. You know, if you ever get bored.” He leans down and presses a kiss to Jensen’s cheek, then leaves. He looks back once to see Jensen still standing in the doorway.

Jeff grins and thinks that maybe he’s not out of the game just yet.

 

 

 


End file.
